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Abbott's rhetoric comes back to haunt him as he targets domestic terrorism after El Paso shooting

Continuing to search for answers in the wake of the El Paso shooting, the Texas governor convened his first task force meeting.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks with families of victims and survivors of the Aug. 3 shooting at Walmart in El Paso on Aug. 29, 2019. About 30 representatives from law enforcement and non-governmental agencies were part of a round-table discussion of public safety. (Mark Lambie / AP)

AUSTIN — Continuing to search for answers in the wake of the El Paso mass shooting that left 22 people dead, Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday convened his first meeting with law enforcement to root out homegrown domestic terrorism.

After mass shootings in Santa Fe and Sutherland Springs in past years, Abbott and state leaders focused on mental health solutions and ramping up school safety — the preferred response to gun violence by conservative leaders across the nation. But this most recent massacre by an alleged white supremacist with an AK-47 who was hunting Mexican immigrants has moved the Republican governor to call for action on gun safety and targeting domestic terrorists.

"El Paso is a catalyst for me convening this Domestic Terrorism Task Force, but the reason for the task force is broader than El Paso alone," Abbott said in opening remarks before the meeting. "We need to come to grips with the fact that there has been an increasing frequency in the number of mass shootings as well as terroristic attacks."

The meeting Friday was closed to the public and the media. Afterward, he said members discussed possible deterrents, intervention, collaborating with social media companies and improving reporting mechanisms for suspicious activities.

Significantly, it's a full-throated acknowledgement by Abbott that racism toward Mexican immigrants was the primary motivation for the killings.

But Abbott didn't target white supremacy in any of his remarks Friday, and he stressed that other examples of possible domestic terrorism in Texas could include the 2016 Dallas police ambush by a shooter targeting white officers, the 2009 Fort Hood shooting by a Muslim Army major and the 2015 Garland shooting by Islamic extremists.

Abbott also has been criticized for the lack of diversity on the task force of 18 people, which is mostly made up of white Republicans and is charged with looking at issues like white supremacy.

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Former Republican House Speaker Joe Straus called on Abbott to do better in a Facebook post.

"The formation of this task force is an important first step. I hope the conversation will expand to include more domestic terrorism experts and more people of color, representing the communities that are being targeted," Straus wrote. "I also hope all who participate will use language that is unifying and constructive rather than divisive. There should be no ambiguity about the fact that Texas and our leaders fully embrace diversity and inclusion while wholly rejecting prejudice or hatred in any form."

The Texas Democratic Party also condemned the makeup of the task force, accusing Abbott of appointing "race-baiters" and "immigration hardliners" to the panel.

"Actions speak louder than words. If Abbott truly acknowledges mistakes he's made, he would immediately appoint a more diverse set of experts to this task force. He didn't," Texas Democratic Party Executive Director Manny Garcia said in a statement.

In addition to meetings to evaluate domestic terrorism, Abbott is hosting other public safety roundtables with lawmakers to look at gun control and other issues. After that meeting last week, he said they discussed cracking down on stolen guns and better enforcing laws that should prevent domestic abusers and other dangerous people from having firearms.

Rebekah Allen . Rebekah is a Louisiana transplant living in Austin, Texas where she covers state government and the Texas Legislature. Previously, she worked in Baton Rouge for The Advocate as an investigative state government reporter.